Yi reopened his restaurant on Feb 17 when he bowed to customers at the entrance in the morning with two of his employees in charge of taking body temperatures and registering the name and cell phone number of every customer.

The restaurant layout was altered. Big tables were replaced by small ones, with at least two meters between each one, holding only up to 50 people at a time. The opening hours have also been cut to 14 hours from 24 hours a day.

Yang sat down and ordered a bowl of rice noodles with shredded pork and a fried egg -- his favorite breakfast combo. Although served in a disposable box instead of a bowl, the taste was familiar to him.

"I feel refreshed slurping noodles once again after so many days staying at home," Yang said.

The restaurant sold some 5,000 bowls of rice noodles in the first three days since reopening, just equivalent to the sales volume of one day in the past. But Yi remained gratified.

"As long as we open the door, there is hope," he said. "Things will work out all right."